BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 28
Trend:
The violence carried out against Azerbaijanis by the radical groups of the Armenian diaspora against diplomatic missions and members of Azerbaijani communities in various countries have been highlighted in the Italian media, the Embassy of Azerbaijan in Italy told Trend.
Articles published in Kmetro0, Gironale Diplomatico, Agenzia Nova said that radical groups of the Armenian Diaspora wearing T-shirts with the logos of the internationally recognized terrorist organization (ASALA), as well as the extremely extremist Armenian Dashnaktsutyun party, having organized extremely aggressive attacks in front of the diplomatic missions of Azerbaijan in Belgium, the US, France, the UK, Sweden, Poland, Australia, the Netherlands and other countries of the world, committed acts of vandalism in recent days against the buildings of diplomatic missions, diplomatic staff, members of Azerbaijani communities and their property, and promoted these acts of vandalism on their social media pages.
Following several days of intense armed clashes, after Armenia made a gross ceasefire violation and launched attacks in the direction of Azerbaijan's Tovuz district on July 12, Azerbaijanis living abroad started staging peaceful protests, calling to put an end to Armenia's aggressive occupation policy.
The rallies were met with harsh response from the Armenian diaspora members.
According to publications by Italian media, about 3,000 extremist members of the Armenian community in California, in an attempt to hold a protest in front of the Azerbaijani Consulate General in Los Angeles, ignoring the legal demands of the local police, deliberately attacked 40 members of the Azerbaijani community who were there. As a result of the attack, seven members of the Azerbaijani community, including a woman, were seriously injured, four of whom were hospitalized.
“Extremist Armenian groups, which organized a protest in front of the Azerbaijani Embassy in Belgium, attacked the embassy’s employees, as well as members of the Azerbaijani community, and also using stones, sharp cutting tools and explosives, resulting in a total of six people injured, including the European correspondent of the Azerbaijani REAL TV channel and the embassy’s staff," said the message.
“This vandalism by radical Armenian forces is not new either for Azerbaijan or for other countries that have faced Armenian terrorism. In 1970-1980, the ASALA and other Armenian terrorist organizations killed more than 70 people and carried out more than 235 terrorist attacks in 22 countries, during which 24 Turkish diplomats were killed,” said the embassy's statement.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.
The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on the withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno Karabakh and the surrounding districts.